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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23035717">The Housewarming Gift</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/wh33zy/pseuds/wh33zy'>wh33zy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Tigers and Bunnies [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tiger &amp; Bunny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, Moving In Together, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Summer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 14:15:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,272</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23035717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/wh33zy/pseuds/wh33zy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Barnaby and Kotetsu finally move in together and while taking a break from unpacking, they look at the housewarming gift given to them by HEROTV.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barnaby "Bunny" Brooks Jr./Kaburagi T. Kotetsu</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Of Tigers and Bunnies [8]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1332236</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Housewarming Gift</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The clanging around in the new kitchen stopped, the new silence allowing them to hear the bustling Gold Stage coming through the open window a lot better. Barnaby stopped unpacking all of their beloved framed pictures in the living room when he noticed the quiet stretching on for longer than it should. Something’s wrong, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows </span>
  </em>
  <span>it, so he decides to find out what. He used the back of his wrist to wipe some sweat off his brow as he gets up from the floor, thankful for the hair-tie keeping his blond curls from sticking to his neck. He takes one of the pictures he already had in his hand with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barnaby finds Kotetsu sitting on the floor of the kitchen, back pressed up against the dishwasher with one long leg out straight and the other bent at the knee. His chin was tilted up with his eyes closed, a pained expression on his face as if he had had enough. He barely moved, even when Barnaby slid onto the floor next to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tired?” The blond asks him with an apologetic smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His lover’s brow furrow deeper. “Everything. Keeps. Falling.” He says as if he’s lost all patience before opening his eyes and adjusting his sitting position a little. “And it’s too hot,” He undoes only a few of the buttons on his light blue jean shirt. “And I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am </span>
  </em>
  <span>tired.” He looks at Barnaby. “Moving </span>
  <em>
    <span>sucks.</span>
  </em>
  <span> We shoulda paid extra for the movers help us unpack all this shit.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>right when you said ‘You never know how much shit you have until you have to move it all’.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Think the other heroes would help us unpack?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barnaby can only snort at the idea. “The only ones I can imagine being of any help is Rock Bison, Sky High, and Dragon Kid.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think you mean Origami over Sky High.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’d ask us every two seconds about where something should go or if it looks right at this certain angle, and maybe he shouldn’t help because he’d just do it wrong even though it’s just putting a vase on a table-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And Sky High </span>
  <em>
    <span>wouldn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>get totally distracted by something and forget why he’s here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The younger man stops for a second, “You’re right.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t even get me started on the other two! One would be too afraid to break a nail and the other’s too good for labor.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which one is which?” Barnaby asks, nudging his partner with his elbow as they both begin chuckling. “Or are you just describing all of Golden Ryan’s personality?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two break into hearty laughter, the noise not echoing as badly as it did when the furniture was still being hauled in. They needed a good laugh; this move had had them on edge lately. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As it simmers down, Kotetsu notices the unfamiliar gold picture frame his lover was clutching onto when he lays his head on his shoulder. “What do you have there?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Housewarming gift from the company. Well- HeroTV so Agnes, the camera crew, and Saito.” He hands it over to the older man, watching his reaction. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is one where it’s obvious that Kotetsu isn’t sure whether he’s touched or annoyed upon seeing the picture. “Was this?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The first </span>
  <em>
    <span>infamous </span>
  </em>
  <span>princess carry.” Barnaby says, then placing a kiss on his head before leaning his cheek against it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>‘infamous’.” The brunet huffs with a nudge. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you not like it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I mean...I feel like there were much better shots of us. It’s not that I don’t like it, I’m just wondering why </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>picture? This is before we even got our suits.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Or even became partners.” Barnaby sighs as he continues to look at the photo, “I didn’t even know your name then.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kotetsu looks at it with him, remembering how unceremoniously he was plopped onto the ground. “You were this rookie hotshot catching this long legged buffoon who had no business being a hero anymore.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blond only frowns and nudges him for talking about himself like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>true. </span>
  </em>
  <span>That was going to be my last appearance on HeroTV, you know. My sponsor went bankrupt, I went from the top to the bottom faster than anything- If it weren’t for that contract, we probably wouldn’t be here right now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought I knew it all.” Barnaby says with some amusement as he remembers being irritated by Kotetsu being the constant reminder that he didn’t know </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “And all I was worried about was looking good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was a smart move in that respect. A rookie saving a veteran’s ass…Agnes really ate that up as mad as she was at me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kotetsu snorts, “I was too busy wondering who the hell you were!” They both laughed quietly before, “And what you were even </span>
  <em>
    <span>doing </span>
  </em>
  <span>in my life...turning my stupid, sad world upside down.” Also because that just made the air too heavy, “And when your plot to kill me would come through.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barnaby smiles, “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>planning on it. But then I realized that...as </span>
  <em>
    <span>satisfying </span>
  </em>
  <span>as it would be, I’d miss you too much.” Something he </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>realized when he thought his partner died. He cried like a baby, was angry like nothing else, and completely </span>
  <em>
    <span>inconsolable. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Kotetsu shifts to look at him with a grin which is the perfect cue to kiss. It’s a little lazy, but well deserved. They both look back at the picture again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe it isn’t so bad afterall. At least the cameraman got us on our good sides, right?” The older man chuckles, feeling some new kind of fondness for it. “How old were we then?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was twenty-four and you were-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thirty-four.” The brunet brings the picture closer to his face, looking unpleasantly confused.. “Gosh, it really wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>long ago but why...why does it </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>like it?” He squints his eyes even more at it. “This feels like it’s from </span>
  <em>
    <span>eons </span>
  </em>
  <span>ago! Ancient even!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, we’ve both changed </span>
  <em>
    <span>a lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>over the years.” Barnaby says as a matter-of-fact, plucking the picture from his hands to get a closer look too. “I know I have.” Once he’s satisfied, he puts the frame down on the floor next to him. “Maybe that’s why-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A saucepan, once hanging from the rack attached to the ceiling, now falls on the counter and then just in front of their feet. It clangs and rattles loudly on the shiny, tiled floor, leaving the two men at attention and holding onto each other tightly. Eyes wide, breaths caught in their throat, bodies tensed- </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kotetsu is the first to have laughter burst through his lips, imagining his daughter calling him pathetic for being scared by a </span>
  <em>
    <span>pot </span>
  </em>
  <span>before going upstairs to her new room. Of course, this doesn’t completely relax him, as he still is holding onto Barnaby with his dear life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe that’s what we get for talking shit about the other heroes.” The older man breathlessly says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barnaby can only wheeze at that but nods in agreement. “You weren’t kidding when you said ‘everything keeps falling’!” He clears his throat, obviously trying to curb his laughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His lover is the first to get up, picking up the pot from the floor and tossing it into the sink to be washed. He offers a hand to Barnaby who accepts after grabbing the picture again. It would be placed on the sideboard in the living room, right with the other cherished memories. Although it didn’t remind them of the greatest of times, it would serve to be a reminder that they would do it all over again.</span>
</p>
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